Those Two Little Words
by StillSilentWatcher
Summary: He couldn't hold it in any longer. Remus had to say something to the man...


A/N: This is pretty short, and I wrote it in like, an hour, but it was a little drabble I've had on my mind for quite some time. I just get the feeling that Lupin would have apologized to Snape.

Those Two Little Words

Remus Lupin sat idly in his office at Hogwarts, sifting through the mounds of student essays that littered his desk. It wasn't like him to fall behind on his work, for Remus had always been a perfect student and a meticulously organized individual, but for the past several months of the term he had been more run down than usual, and that in itself was saying something. He started at the clanging of the Hogwarts clock that rested at the heart of the castle. It was very late. Exhaling tiredly, he shifted his gaze to outside his window. Through the inky night sky the nearly full autumn moon shone brightly, casting its pale light unto Remus' even paler face. This would be his last night of peace for that month, and he sighed, knowing that his ailment would once again cause him to fall even further behind on his work. Why Dumbledore decided to hire him was really beyond his understanding…A sudden rapping at the door to his office stirred Remus out of his thoughts.

"Do come in," he rasped, surprised at how weak his voice came out. "Please," he added a little more strongly.

Without wasting anytime, the heavily scratched wooden door swung open forcefully to reveal a tall, thin man in black robes standing dourly in his doorway.

"Ah, Severus, what a pleasure to see you this evening," Remus said cheerily, getting up from his messy desk to greet the man standing stiffly before him. Severus did not return this greeting, instead choosing to remain silent while he let himself into the other man's quarters. His black eyes scanned up and down the walls of the office he so desperately wanted before landing on the scarred and haggard face of his old schoolmate.

"Spare me the niceties Lupin. I am simply here to deliver your dosage of Wolfsbane potion for this month."

"Ah, I see," Remus said, slightly abashed by Snape's bluntness. He moved closer to his colleague so as to take the previously mentioned item from him. "Thank you very much for this Severus. Truly."

Choosing not to acknowledge this gratitude, Snape extended his right hand and dropped a small vial of clear liquid into Remus' hands, a heavy sneer etched into his facial features. "Don't forget to take it precisely at three o'clock this morning, or I assure you, you will regret it." With that, Severus turned sharply on the heel of his boot and made swiftly for the door.

Remus bit his lip gently as he watched the other man go. He couldn't hold it in any longer. It was something that he had to say. Before he could stop himself, he blurted out, "Severus, please wait."

The clicking of Severus' black boots came to a halt, however he chose not to turn around to face Remus.

"What is it Lupin? Surely you have taken this potion long enough to not have any questions, and unlike you, I do not have time enough to be wasting on mere idle chit chat."

Remus couldn't help but wince slightly at the harsh response he received. Despite the hint that this would be harder than he had initially, he pushed forward. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."

At this Snape turned his head ever so slightly to reveal a sliver of one black eye, fixed intently on the man behind him. With the lack of other response, Remus pressed on, embarrassed to find that his words stumbled out of his mouth.

"I just wanted you to know that-that I never meant for you to get hurt. I was selfish, blinded by my love for James and Sirius. My younger self never really stopped to think about how you might have been affected by their torments. Though I didn't participate, my lack of response was just as powerful in egging the two of them on."

He paused, trying to find the rest of the words he wanted to say. "And you should know that I really didn't know Sirius planned to have you walk in on my in my transformed state. I would never have let him go through with tricking you if I had known." And that was true. He remembered that night well. Despite being nearly complete in his transformation into a werewolf, Remus could still remember the look of horror and shock on Snape's face as he came through the trap door in the Shrieking Shack just before James pulled him back through and all senses were lost to him. Suddenly, an overwhelming sense of guilt washed over Remus as he stood before the man he could have very well killed that night many years ago.

Snape remained stock still, not reacting to any of the confessions Remus had just made, and the other man was afraid of what might happen next between them. Regardless, he had to say it one last time.

"I'm so sorry Severus. If you can find it in you, at least as my colleague, please forgive me."

For many painful moments the two of them stood, rooted in their spots, neither saying a word. Remus wasn't quite sure what he had been expecting, dragging up the past as he had. All he knew was that it was something that he had to tell Severus. Regardless of how much the sour tempered man sneered, mocked, and brow-beat him, Remus could not shake the feeling in his gut that whatever the man dished out his way, he deserved. He had been a bystander to all of the torture and torment that Severus had had to endure in his youth, with the power to stop it whenever he had wished, but he never did. Yet despite all of that, Severus continued to make him the difficult to brew Wolfsbane potion each month, so as to make his transformations less painful, and Remus could not longer accept it without telling Severus that he was sorry. And he was, truly, sorry.

Turning his head back the quarter of an inch so that he was facing back to the open door out of Lupin's office, the clicking of heels picked back up and Severus Snape began walking out of the room. Remus bowed his head silently in acceptance of this rejection and turned to head back the work on piled on his desk. He couldn't say that he blamed the man. But just as he was sitting back into his chair, Lupin heard a faint, but strong voice come from the very edge of his door, and he looked up to see Severus paused in the doorway.

"Goodnight…Remus."

And with that Severus was gone into the darkness of the night hallways in the castle.

At his desk, a small smile crept across Remus Lupin's tired features.


End file.
